The Karin, a 400-foot-long (120-meter-long) cargo ship, sat moored this week on Ireland’s boggy River Shannon estuary. Soon it set sail for Russia laden with a white powder that can be forged into weapons vital to Moscow’s war on Ukraine.
Alumina, the key ingredient in aluminum, goes into everything from toothpaste and lipstick to missiles and drones. A Russian-owned plant in southern Ireland is Europe’s biggest alumina refinery and regularly sends shiploads of the substance directly to St. Petersburg and other Russian ports.
Almost five years into Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, alumina has escaped European sanctions intended to hobble Russia’s economy. That leaves the refinery in Aughinish free to send its product to Russia, where some ends up in weapons, experts say.
The article is a little misleading. Ireland is the largest product of alumina in Europe, if you exclude Russia, which produces about twice as much.
The vast majority of alumina comes from China. All of Europe together produces less than 10% of what China produces. Ireland produces less than 1% of the global supply.
So all the more reason not to sell any to Russia.
Why the fuck are governments allowing OWNERSHIP of industrial production exploiting local resources to be in the hands of another country?
Money, usually. Also technology transfers.
“We’ll pay you royalties and pay for construction and everything so that we can build a mine. You don’t have to do anything and we’ll give you money. Oh, and here’s a donation to your political campaign.”
Until it’s time to clean up whatever mess we’ve made.
Well by that time it’ll be some other politician’s job. One of the worst things about the whole arrangement.
About fucking time someone noticed.
Irish Govt. Has kicked this can down the road for years now as they aren’t willing to eat any loss or bad publicity for dealing with it.
I thought Ireland was historically against colonialist imperial assholes that invade their neighbors?
Let’s not pretend that nato expansion isn’t just neo imperialism, chud
Sure thing comrade.
I genuinely couldn’t care less about Russia. But blindness to American imperialism is too ironic to leave hanging.
We are, hence having one of the highest intake of Ukrainian refugees per capita.
A Russian company exporting something as broadly used as chalk or salt to Russia isn’t something our government can trample on without raising serious questions for the extremely high number of foreign owned businesses that our country and employment depend on.
Meanwhile America is literally building and donating missiles used to bombard hospitals in Gaza. Clean the shit off your shoe before asking if we smell.
I’m not American.
Are you sure your leadership knows that?
Zelenskyy is here right now, what a perfect time for him to broach the subject to President Connolly. :)
Oh, come on, Ireland! You used to be cool!
“Profit, profit, profit! But only until the world, and all it’s inhabitants, are dead. We have limits, you know.” /s
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These drunks are bitching about Israel nonstop while doing this shit. Lousy hypocrites.
Just a little garnish of random bigoted stereotype thrown in for good measure.
